Chapter VI: Intellectual Processes

Abstract

THis chapter summarizes the material on thinking which has appeared in the last six years, during which little significant research has been produced. As was noted in the previous REVIEW chapter (75), most of the research has been done at the college level, and its meaning for children is debatable. Only studies which have dealt directly with children or which have clear implications of significance for them have been included here. Partly because of the rapid recent development of concern in this area and partly in the hope that they may stimulate further research, some books and articles on theory have been included. The Nature of the Thinking ProcessThe general character of thinking challenged research workers, and efforts were made to synthesize existing investigations as well as to probe the dynamics of thinking. Johnson (47) and Bartlett (8) presented excellent opportunities for up-to-date orientation and mental stimulation in thinking and its related aspects. Along with the nature, methods for analysis, and classification of thought, Johnson included pertinent discussions of judgment. Price (70) rejected reduction of thinking to words and images and argued for the power of concepts.The outcome of part of the five-year program of the Cognition Project in the Laboratory of Social Relations at Harvard University was recorded by Bruner, Goodnow, and Austin (13). They described the nature of conceptualizing, and in reporting on a series of 20 experiments in concept attainment under a variety of conditions, integrated and evaluated theoretical issues in terms of the experiments reported. Russell (74) comprehensively studied children's thinking, discussing its backgrounds, materials, processes, and possible improvement. Galanter and Gerstenhaber (30) attempted to conceptualize the problem of the nature of thought from the S-R behavioral standpoint. Thurstone (86) reviewed hypotheses regarding creative talent and formulated suggestions helpful to research workers seeking ways to initiate exploratory and experimental studies.Piaget's careful, systematic investigation of the child's mental processes made significant contributions, stressing differentiation more than integration in the maturing process. In an important and noteworthy book with Inhelder, Piaget (44) attempted to isolate and describe mental structures which characterize the reasoning of the child of 7 to 11 years, then differentiated these structures from those which characterize the reasoning of early adolescents. They also reported on the perceptual aspect and structuring of the spatial field by children (67). Piaget's conclusion that sen-185 at UNIV ARIZONA LIBRARY on July 6, 2015 http://rer.aera.net Downloaded from REVIEW OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH Vol. XXIX, No. 2sorimotor substructure is essential in the development of conceptual expression (65) extended understanding of the origins of intelligence. Furthermore, Piaget defined intelligence in relation to adaptive processes, indicated that "grouping" operations according to definite structures made b...